Equant cache managment service provides corporations quicker and more cost-effective access to intranet and internet content
Announcement posted by Equant 03 Sep 2003
Service enables up to 40 percent IP bandwidth savings and up to 95 percent improvement in response time for Web-enabled applications
Equant (NYSE: ENT) (Euronext Paris: EQU), a recognised industry leader in global data and IP services for multinational businesses, has expanded its Managed Services portfolio with Equant Cache Management service.
The new service provides faster and more cost-effective access to intranet and Internet content. An important differentiator of Equant Cache Management is that it is engineered to optimise IP VPN content, internal Web-enabled applications, document sharing, and intranet and Internet Web pages. To date, competing solutions have focused only on caching Internet content.
Key customer benefits of Equant Cache Management include:
Reduced bandwidth costs: With Equant Cache Management, WAN bandwidth can be reduced by up to 40 percent because employees can retrieve corporate information from a local cache, rather from a remote server.
Lower operational expenses: Companies need fewer servers because they do not have to maintain multiple local duplicate servers.
Enhanced performance: Since the caches are located near corporate sites, response time for Web-enabled applications can be improved by up to 95 percent.
Increased employee productivity: Faster access speeds improve employee morale and efficiency.
Two major European multinationals - one of the world's largest retailers and a global leader in electronics manufacturing - already have deployed Equant Cache Management on their corporate IP VPN networks, with a total of 380 caches in more than 50 countries. Numerous other customers of Equant's former Internet-focused cache service are also considering migrating to the new service and its expanded capabilities.
"Equant has moved up the value chain with its new Managed Cache service," said Lucinda Borovick, analyst, International Data Corporation. "By adding secure caching of Intranet and other corporate content - as well as on-demand media streaming - to its former Web-focused caching, Equant has provided an important new functionality that addresses the need to support the growing deployments of enterprise web-based applications."
"The launch of Equant Cache Management service is another example of how Equant is expanding its Managed Services portfolio to meet the needs of multinational companies, many of which are under intense cost and headcount pressure," said Gilles Pradere, Equant's head of Managed Services. "Outsourcing of mission-critical functions to an experienced global provider such as Equant, which has more than 3,000 support professionals in 140-plus countries, allows companies to concentrate on their core business and revenue generation."
Equant Cache Management features customer premise equipment designed by Network Appliance, the market leader and most experienced vendor of cache technology worldwide. Equant provides full Service Management, including 24x7 monitoring, maintenance of caches, and service level agreements for parameters such as service availability, fault and change management. Equant Professional Services design a caching architecture based on customer requirements, and Equant Project Management Services procure, deploy and install the caching equipment. Global support is provided in over 140 countries through Equant's Global Customer Service Centres, local help desks and other on-site support.
Equant also offers several optional or alternative features that include:
Web Traffic Assessment: Quantifies the benefits of Equant Cache Management on the customer network in terms of financial savings and increased employee productivity.
Customer-Managed Cache service: Provides customers with the ability to manage and own the cache infrastructure while benefiting from design, consultancy, and hardware and software support from Equant.
Managed Firewall and Anti-Virus Integration: These security services improve Quality of Service for Internet access control by scanning all SMTP for viruses and preventing infected HTTP and FTP downloads.
Streaming Media: Software from Apple, Microsoft and RealNetworks can be implemented on the caches to support streaming media applications, with the caches acting as media servers.
About Equant
Equant (NYSE: ENT) (Euronext Paris: EQU) is a recognized industry leader in global data and IP network and integration services for multinational businesses. The Equant network has unmatched seamless reach, connecting key business centres in 220 countries and territories, with local support in more than 165 countries. Building on more than 50 years of experience in data communications, Equant serves thousands of the world's top companies with the industry's most extensive portfolio of managed network services, including the market-leading IP VPN used by 800 global businesses as of May 13, 2003. Equant, a member of the France Telecom Group, was named Best Global Carrier 2002 at the World Communication Awards and consistently leads industry surveys in corporate user satisfaction.
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This release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements related to Equant that involve risks and uncertainties. Readers are cautioned that these statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future results or events. Readers are referred to the documents filed by Equant with the SEC, specifically the most recent filing on SEC Form 20-F, which identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, including, among other things, risks relating to Equant's history of operating losses, the unpredictability of growth in Equant's markets, Equant's rapid growth, changing technology, uncertain and changing regulatory restrictions, Equant's international operations, dependence on suppliers, network security issues, competition, and volatility of Equant's stock price and risks relating to the combination with Global One. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to Equant on the date hereof, and Equant assumes no obligation to update such statements.
The new service provides faster and more cost-effective access to intranet and Internet content. An important differentiator of Equant Cache Management is that it is engineered to optimise IP VPN content, internal Web-enabled applications, document sharing, and intranet and Internet Web pages. To date, competing solutions have focused only on caching Internet content.
Key customer benefits of Equant Cache Management include:
Reduced bandwidth costs: With Equant Cache Management, WAN bandwidth can be reduced by up to 40 percent because employees can retrieve corporate information from a local cache, rather from a remote server.
Lower operational expenses: Companies need fewer servers because they do not have to maintain multiple local duplicate servers.
Enhanced performance: Since the caches are located near corporate sites, response time for Web-enabled applications can be improved by up to 95 percent.
Increased employee productivity: Faster access speeds improve employee morale and efficiency.
Two major European multinationals - one of the world's largest retailers and a global leader in electronics manufacturing - already have deployed Equant Cache Management on their corporate IP VPN networks, with a total of 380 caches in more than 50 countries. Numerous other customers of Equant's former Internet-focused cache service are also considering migrating to the new service and its expanded capabilities.
"Equant has moved up the value chain with its new Managed Cache service," said Lucinda Borovick, analyst, International Data Corporation. "By adding secure caching of Intranet and other corporate content - as well as on-demand media streaming - to its former Web-focused caching, Equant has provided an important new functionality that addresses the need to support the growing deployments of enterprise web-based applications."
"The launch of Equant Cache Management service is another example of how Equant is expanding its Managed Services portfolio to meet the needs of multinational companies, many of which are under intense cost and headcount pressure," said Gilles Pradere, Equant's head of Managed Services. "Outsourcing of mission-critical functions to an experienced global provider such as Equant, which has more than 3,000 support professionals in 140-plus countries, allows companies to concentrate on their core business and revenue generation."
Equant Cache Management features customer premise equipment designed by Network Appliance, the market leader and most experienced vendor of cache technology worldwide. Equant provides full Service Management, including 24x7 monitoring, maintenance of caches, and service level agreements for parameters such as service availability, fault and change management. Equant Professional Services design a caching architecture based on customer requirements, and Equant Project Management Services procure, deploy and install the caching equipment. Global support is provided in over 140 countries through Equant's Global Customer Service Centres, local help desks and other on-site support.
Equant also offers several optional or alternative features that include:
Web Traffic Assessment: Quantifies the benefits of Equant Cache Management on the customer network in terms of financial savings and increased employee productivity.
Customer-Managed Cache service: Provides customers with the ability to manage and own the cache infrastructure while benefiting from design, consultancy, and hardware and software support from Equant.
Managed Firewall and Anti-Virus Integration: These security services improve Quality of Service for Internet access control by scanning all SMTP for viruses and preventing infected HTTP and FTP downloads.
Streaming Media: Software from Apple, Microsoft and RealNetworks can be implemented on the caches to support streaming media applications, with the caches acting as media servers.
About Equant
Equant (NYSE: ENT) (Euronext Paris: EQU) is a recognized industry leader in global data and IP network and integration services for multinational businesses. The Equant network has unmatched seamless reach, connecting key business centres in 220 countries and territories, with local support in more than 165 countries. Building on more than 50 years of experience in data communications, Equant serves thousands of the world's top companies with the industry's most extensive portfolio of managed network services, including the market-leading IP VPN used by 800 global businesses as of May 13, 2003. Equant, a member of the France Telecom Group, was named Best Global Carrier 2002 at the World Communication Awards and consistently leads industry surveys in corporate user satisfaction.
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This release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements related to Equant that involve risks and uncertainties. Readers are cautioned that these statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future results or events. Readers are referred to the documents filed by Equant with the SEC, specifically the most recent filing on SEC Form 20-F, which identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, including, among other things, risks relating to Equant's history of operating losses, the unpredictability of growth in Equant's markets, Equant's rapid growth, changing technology, uncertain and changing regulatory restrictions, Equant's international operations, dependence on suppliers, network security issues, competition, and volatility of Equant's stock price and risks relating to the combination with Global One. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to Equant on the date hereof, and Equant assumes no obligation to update such statements.